Saturday, April 27, 2013

Comparing Family Notes

I mentioned, the other day, the serendipity of finding
Lafayette D. Woodworth in not one, but two volumes of local history—one for the
southern California region in which he settled after immigration, one from the
place in Wisconsin where he first settled as an adult.

After sharing the excerpt of his travels from the 1901 publication, it would be helpful to jump back in time to compare records with
the previously published volume. That earlier book, The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin, was printed by the Western Historical Company in
1879. Like the more recent California
rendition, this book was thick (L. D. Woodworth’s entry appears on page 708),
and contained biographical sketches of several of the better known local
residents of that era. Thankfully, farmer Lafayette Woodworth was among those
considered prominent enough to include in its pages.

The point at which we left off, in the 1901 narrative, was
when the editors took up with a listing of Lafayette’s several children. If you’ve been
following this Woodworth series, you will remember that listing has already
been shared by reader Intense Guy in one of his comments.

Let’s revisit that listing, though, because I want to
juxtapose it with a similar list in the 1879 volume. Keep in mind the
considerable editorial task it must have been to include the names and birth
dates (yes, incredibly, this resource actually provides details down to the
kind of miniscule degree only appreciated by genealogists!) of multiple
children of enough local residents to fill nearly one thousand pages of text.
The caveat: surely there must have been some
typos mixed into this tedious task.

Here, just for reference, is the listing of Lafayette and
Eliza Smith Woodworth’s children from the 1901 version:

While living in Wisconsin Mr.
Woodworth married Miss Eliza Smith, who was born in Madison
county, N, Y., but at the time of her marriage made her home in Kenosha county. Of this
union there are eight children living, three of whom reside in California. The names of
the children are as follows: Mrs. Frances Patterson, of Sioux
City, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Vincent, of California; Joel. N.
Woodworth, of Sioux City, Iowa; Mrs. Emma Larrabee, of Kenosha county, Wis.;
Harvey P.; William C; Mrs. Lillie Hoskins, of Detroit, Mich.; and Lafayette D.
Woodworth, Jr.

Jumping back in time, now, let’s see how that list compares
with the previous one, published back east, just outside Wisconsin in Chicago,
twenty two years earlier:

With the exception of a bogus date for the parents’ wedding,
and the transposition of children’s names for William and Lillie/Lilly, all seem
adequately represented—with, of course, that wonderful addition of the dates of
birth.

Those, however, are part of the very tedium I was referring
to when I wondered about the possibility of typos. At least, they provide a
working record to use as guide until further documentation is uncovered.

That's a rich resource -- birth dates in one book, and home towns in another. Really, really, lucky! If I get first names that just bear a resemblance to each other (in that census cursive script where letters mush into other letters), I'm happy.

I think every county should be required to keep local biographies! This tedious task should be a paid position with benefits, from the town government! : ))

Wouldn't that be a dream, Mariann? I don't know who inspired those publishers back in the 1800s, but apparently it was in vogue in some regions to do something akin to town yearbooks. Whatever it was, I'm certainly grateful for that today.

Hopefully, blogging will bring these books back to new life again. They are a wonderful resource for contemporary reports--although that is not to say they are error-free. And they are certainly not brag-free!

About Me

It is my contention that, after a lifetime, one of the greatest needs people have is to be remembered. They want to know: have I made a difference?
I write because I can't keep for myself the gifts others have entrusted to me. Through what I've already been given--though not forgetting those to whom I must pass this along--from family I receive my heritage; through family I leave a legacy. With family I weave a tapestry. These are my strands.